President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it during an indoor inauguration parade at Capital One Arena on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
"To hold otherwise would render much, if not most, of the INA simply optional," the judge said.
Moss elaborated further in the 128-page opinion, saying neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Immigration and Nationality Act grant Trump the authority to "replace the comprehensive rules and procedures set forth in the INA and the governing regulations."
"The Court recognizes that the Executive Branch faces enormous challenges in preventing and deterring unlawful entry into the United States and in adjudicating the overwhelming backlog of asylum claims of those who have entered the country," Moss said in his order.
"But the INA, by its terms, provides the sole and exclusive means for removing people already present in the country, and, as the Department of Justice correctly concluded less than nine months ago, neither § 1182(f) nor § 1185(a) provides the President with the unilateral authority to limit the rights of aliens present in the United States to apply for asylum."
JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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The news comes as Trump has sought to prioritize hard-line immigration policies in his second presidential term. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments earlier this year over another order Trump signed, which seeks to end birthright citizenship in the U.S.
The administration has also cracked down on deportations, invoking a 1798 wartime immigration law to more quickly send hundreds of migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador earlier this year.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-strikes-down-trump-order-preventing-asylum-requests-protections-illegal-immigrants